Music of The Last of Us (TV series)

The music for the American post-apocalyptic drama television series The Last of Us was composed by Gustavo Santaolalla and David Fleming. Santaolalla composed the music for the video game franchise on which the series is based, including The Last of Us (2013) and The Last of Us Part II (2020). Several of Santaolalla's tracks from the video games were reused throughout the series; his work on the series focused on recrafting his previous work, while Fleming created original music inspired by real-world sounds within a decayed civilization.

The series features songs such as "Never Let Me Down Again" by Depeche Mode and "Long, Long Time" by Linda Ronstadt, as well as covers of these songs by Jessica Mazin and Nick Offerman, respectively. The 66-track soundtrack album for the first season was published by Milan Records in February 2023, featuring the work of Santaolalla, Fleming, Mazin, and Offerman, as well as Jake Staley and Juan Luqui. Critics praised the use of music throughout the series for its appropriateness and intensification of the writing. Santaolalla was nominated for Outstanding Music Composition at the 75th Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards.

Production and composition


In March 2020, Gustavo Santaolalla, who composed the music for the video game The Last of Us (2013) and its sequel The Last of Us Part II (2020), was announced to be returning to compose the music for the television adaptation. He said Latino viewers "will recognize touches" of his music, and drew on his experiences in film and television, having composed the themes and some tracks for Jane the Virgin (2014–2019) and Making a Murderer (2015–2018). Santaolalla primarily recrafted his previous work instead of creating new music, focusing on elements he found interesting. He treated the series as "an expansion" of the game, keeping them tied to each other; he did not seek to revise or correct any previous work as he found it authentic. He enjoyed the natural feeling of silence in the series and felt it helped draw in viewers emotionally. Santaolalla had around 185 cues for the series.

David Fleming co-composed the score; his work was inspired by real-world sounds within a decayed civilization. Fleming largely worked on action-heavy music for the series, such as a large action sequence in the fifth episode. Like Santaolalla, he wanted to keep his score minimalistic and exercised restraint to match series co-creator Craig Mazin's goal of "having the viewer feel that they're part of the scene rather than be observing the scene". He selected specific instruments that paired appropriately with Santaolalla's work; rather than using a generic drum, he wanted one with "personality, whether it be a rusty barrel or like cracking wood or bowing, rusty metal".

Series editor Timothy A. Good used Santaolalla's game score as temp music during editing and found it influenced his decisions. Several songs from the games were reused to evoke particular emotions, such as "All Gone" in the sixth episode to remind viewers of Sarah's death. For the ninth episode, the music reflects the sadness of the action sequence; Mazin attempted several variations of music for the sequence, including dark and action-heavy tracks, but ultimately chose Santaolalla's "saddest" music from the game as the emotions were ultimately the same despite their usage within different contexts.

The final scene and credits of the first episode feature the song "Never Let Me Down Again" by Depeche Mode, which Mazin chose due to its blend of upbeat sounds and dark lyrics. He felt its title referred to the relationship between Joel and Ellie. The song topped two Billboard charts after the broadcast of the first episode. It returned in the sixth episode, performed by Mazin's daughter Jessica, to demonstrate Ellie feeling let down by Joel. The third episode uses "Long, Long Time" by Linda Ronstadt, which exhibits themes of unfulfilled love and how time heals wounds, echoing Bill and Frank's relationship. Streams of the song increased significantly following the episode's broadcast; several outlets compared it to the 2022 resurgence of Kate Bush's "Running Up That Hill" after its use in the fourth season of Stranger Things.

Album
The Last of Us: Season 1 (Soundtrack from the HBO Original Series) comprises the score created for the television series The Last of Us, including several adapted from the video game series. Milan Records published the 66-track soundtrack album released digitally on February 27, 2023, after the seventh episode of the series. A CD of the soundtrack was first released in July, and a vinyl record by Mondo was released in September. Alongside the works of Santaolalla and Fleming, the soundtrack features tracks performed by Jake Staley and Juan Luqui, as well as Jessica Mazin's version of "Never Let Me Down Again" and Nick Offerman's of "Long, Long Time".

Digital and CD
The two-disc CD release features two additional tracks.

Vinyl record
The vinyl record release, split across two records, features some track changes.

Reception
In the context of the series, Santaolalla and Fleming's score received praise, with CNET's Keane feeling it added "a yearning of sadness to the narrative". For the first episode, Total Film's Bradley Russell wrote the score was used to "intensify, but never overpower, the ... emotional beats". IGN's Simon Cardy praised its sparing use in the second episode "to great effect", and favorably compared "the pulsating electronic beats" of the eighth episode to the soundtrack of Blade Runner 2049. The mournful music during the ninth episode's action sequence was praised;  IGNs Cardy felt it reflected the scene's regretful tone, and Total Films Russell considered it among the season's strongest musical moments. Russell similarly lauded the increasing tension of the music during the season's final scene. For his work on the third episode, Santaolalla was nominated for Outstanding Music Composition for a Series (Original Dramatic Score) at the 75th Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards.